The Association of Independent Museums will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 1997. Joint hosts for this special anniversary conference will be the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and the Ironbridge Institute (University of Birmingham). The historic Ironbridge Gorge provides a fitting venue for this year's theme of 'Spirit of Time and Place'.
The seminar programme will be extended this year to include a focus on current management initiatives at UK World Heritage Sites (the Ironbridge Gorge being one of UNESCO's designated World Heritage Sites) and to look at new provisions for training heritage managers.
The conference will include the 'behind the scenes' study tours and social programme expected from the annual AIM conference. In keeping with the AIM tradition of holding the Annual Conference Dinner in unusual places, this year we will be wined and dined on the Severn Valley Steam Railway as we travel down the valley from the Bridgnorth to Kidderminster. The grand finale will be a visit to Hawkstone Park to experience the recently restored eighteenth century landscape walks, designed to challenge the senses !
Main Conference Themes :
Response to 'Treasures in Trust' - UK government strategy for museums
The interpretation of collections in context
Designation of museums & landscapes of regional, national and international importance
Cultural landscapes
Strategies for cultural tourism
World Heritage Sites - Designation and management
Training for heritage managers
PROGRAMME
DAY 1: FRIDAY 16th MAY 1997
9.30 - 10.30 Registration at the John Rose Centre, Coalport
SESSION ONE MUSEUMS IN CONTEXT (10.30 - 13.00)
Chair : Jonathan Bryant, Director of River and Rowing Museum Foundation.
Chairman of AIM
Opening Address : Loyd Grossman
Speakers :
Tim Mason, Museums and Galleries Commission.
TREASURES IN TRUST. WHERE TO NEXT?
Patrick Fallon, Museums & Galleries Div., Dept. of National Heritage.
GOVERNMENT POLICY & MUSEUMS
Patrick Greene, Director, Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.
A RESPONSE TO TREASURES IN TRUST
Geoff Ward, Secretary & Director, Eyam Museum
THE VIEW OF TREASURES IN TRUST FROM A SMALL INDEPENDENT MUSEUM
Kathy Gee, Director, West Midlands Area Museum Council
THE AREA MUSEUM SERVICE PERSPECTIVE
Glen Lawes, Chief Executive, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
SPIRIT OF TIME & PLACE - COLLECTIONS IN CONTEXT
SESSION TWO SPIRIT OF PLACE (14.00 - 16.35)
Chair : Chris Zeuner, Director, Weald and Downland Open Air Museum.
Speakers :
Professor Peter Fowler, University of Newcastle
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES - SPIRIT OF PLACE
John Hume, Chief Inspector of Historic Buildings, Historic Scotland.
A STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPING CULTURAL TOURISM
Professor Alan Day, University of Bath
A VIRTUAL REALITY TOUR OF BATH
Jane Brantom, Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership
PRIVATE & PUBLIC SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS
Evening:
20th Anniversary Conference Dinner on the Severn Valley Steam
Railway. Including: After Dinner Speech by Sir Neil Cossons,
Director, Science Museum (London) & visit to Kidderminster Railway Museum
DAY 2: SATURDAY 17th MAY 1997
For Saturday there is a choice of programme. You may elect to attend
either the two formal sessions at the Ironbridge Institute or to undertake
the "behind the scenes" tours of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum.
SESSION THREE WORLD HERITAGE SITES (10.00 - 13.00)
Venue: Ironbridge Institute, Coalbrookdale
Chair : Marion Blockley, Programme Director, Ironbridge Institute.
ICOMOS (UK) World Heritage Sites Committee.
Speakers :
Philip Whitbourn, ICOMOS (UK).
THE SELECTION PROCESS - THE PROPOSED WORLD HERITAGE SITE AT GREENWICH
Philip Davis,Chair, Local Authorities Forum on World Heritage Sites.
WORKING TOGETHER : LOCAL AUTHORITIES & WORLD HERITAGE SITE MANAGEMENT
Christopher Young, Director for Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site.
HADRIAN'S WALL WORLD HERITAGE SITE : THE VIEW FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE
Prof. Peter Fowler, University of Newcastle
STONEHENGE & AVEBURY
Dave Batchelor, English Heritage
THE USE OF G.I.S. AS A TOOL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF LANDSCAPE WORLD HERITAGE SITES
SESSION FOUR TRAINING TO MEET NEW CHALLENGES (14.00 - 17.10)
Chair : Michael Lowe, Chairman Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
Chairman Shropshire TEC
Speakers :
Marion Blockley, Programme Director, Ironbridge Institute.
MANAGEMENT TRAINING FOR CURATORS, HERITAGE MANAGERS & VOLUNTEERS
Lester Borley, Europa Nostra. ICOMOS(UK) Cultural Tourism Committee.
TRAINING FOR MANAGERS OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPES
Victor Middleton, Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes University.
ICOMOS(UK) Cultural Tourism Committee.
MANAGEMENT TRAINING & NETWORKING
Richard Harrison, Museum & Heritage Consultant. SIBH Education Committee.
NVQ'S/SVQ'S AT LEVELS 2,3 & 4 IN ENVIRONMENTAL & HERITAGE INTERPRETATION
Rob Shorland-Ball, Museums Consultant. Former Hon. Secretary of AIM.
TRAINING FREELANCES - WHO FOOTS THE BILL ?
OPTIONAL STUDY TOURS - BEHIND THE SCENES AT IGMT AM
Study visits of Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust sites :
Broseley Pipeworks Museum; William de Morgan Exhibition at Jackfield
Tile Museum ; Coalport China Museum
PM
Visits to : Refurbished Museum of Iron at Coalbrookdale & Blists Hill
Open Air Museum.
Opportunity to see the working replica of the Trevithick steam railway locomotive.
EVENING
Launch of the Wrekin District Museums & Heritage Strategy at the Museum of
Iron, Coalbrookdale. Followed by a barbecue with live music, hosted by
Wrekin District Council.
DAY 3: SUNDAY 18th May 1997
VISIT TO HAWKSTONE PARK
A social outing to Hawkstone Historic Park and Follies to celebrate the
'Spirit of Time and Place' theme of this anniversary conference.
Hawkstone, a Grade One listed eighteenth century landscape, is a
celebrated romantic landscape complete with follies, caves, tunnels,
a castle, and the 'awful precipice'. Delegates will be able to
experience the recently restored landscape walks of Hawkstone, designed
to challenge the senses ! The day will include a guided tour of the Red
castle, a 'romantic ruin' not usually accessible to visitors. A picnic
lunch and hermit will be provided !
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, & BOOKING FORMS PLEASE CONTACT:
Sue Jopling at the Ironbridge Institute, Ironbridge Gorge Museum,
Ironbridge, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 7AW, UK.
Tel. (44) 1952 432751 Fax : (44) 1952 432237
E-mail : S.C.Jopling@bham.ac.uk